1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to an improved method of eliminating bathroom odor by trapping and neutralizing it at its source within the toilet bowl.
2. Description of Prior Art
Bathroom odor is currently reduced by exhausting the foul smelling air out of the building by means of an exhaust fan and associated duct work, or by neutralizing the odor through the use of air fresheners which release into the air a stronger less obnoxious scent, or by adding a pleasant scent to the toilet flushing water using slowly dissolving solids.
The exhaust fan method requires expensive installation, generates considerable noise when in operation, requires the toggling of an on-off switch for operation, and is not available in older houses or in all bathrooms in many newer houses. Exhausting the air requires either heating or dehumidifying and cooling the incoming replacement air. The fan uses electric power during its operation. Normally neither the fan shutters or exhaust ducts are insulated, and there is a small amount of air leakage through the shutters, all of which constitute additional energy loss. So this odor handling method is both inconvenient and uses energy for its operation.
Spraying a perfumed mist into the air is also inconvenient and the strong scent required to cover the odor can be almost as offensive as the original odor it attempts to cover. This heavy perfume drifts into other rooms when the bathroom door is left ajar to dissipate it.
Perfumes from evaporating solids produce an unnecessary constant background scent and require frequent replacement if the evaporation rate is set high enough to adequately cover the odor. This floods adjacent rooms with an unneeded scent when the bathroom door is left open for any length of time.
Slowly dissolving scented solids placed in a toilet water reservoir add perfume to water used for flushing as a means of neutralizing bathroom odor. Most of this treated water is lost during flushing. The small amount of treated water remaining in the toilet bowl is diluted considerably by untreated water added to bring the water level up to the proper height during a reservoir refilling cycle. As a result, the small amount of perfumed water remaining in the toilet bowl is insufficient to adequately cover either odor in the water or odor escaping into the air during a bowel movement. Another additional means of odor control is therefore required for complete control of bathroom odor. This is an inefficient, inadequate and expensive means of odor control.
Since my invention uses an entirely different means of odor control than those described above, listing prior art on these odor control methods is not deemed necessary.
The use of oil as a flushing means is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,025,747. Since odor control is not the purpose of this type of prior art, my invention does not infringe.